Danny in Hiding
by Rainforest Treefrog
Summary: This is about what happens to Danny after the final performance. Danny is in hiding in Paris, France and only Alyson knows where he is. The two of them have to come up with a way to defeat Max.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_I can't go on like this_, thought Danny Sinclair. _I've been in hiding for over two years now and still no sign of Max. _

Ever since the night of the finale of the reality show: World's Greatest Kid Magician, Danny had basically fallen off the side of the Earth. Not literally of course, but he had changed his identity, and escaped the country. The reality show had been in New Orleans, and as soon as he made Max disappear as a part of his act, Alyson had helped him board the first train out of Louisiana. It went strait to San Francisco, with a short stop to get fuel in Denver. Alyson was the only kid who knew about the whereabouts of Danny.

Of course, Max, being the clever jerk he was, eventually found out that Danny was in California, so Danny was on the move yet again. This time out of the country, to France. So now, here Danny was waiting for something to happen, in his small apartment in Paris.

Danny practically jumped ten feet high out of his seat when he heard the knocking on the door.

"Who is it," he asked nervously.

"Calm down Danny, it's Alyson."

"Oh, Alyson, thank goodness it's you."

He opened the door to see Alyson's bright smile and beautiful face. He hated to admit, but he was beginning to develop a big crush on her.

"I like your place," Alyson commented as Danny led her into the apartment. Looking out the window, she could see the Eiffel Tower, across the Seine River. "Nice view!"

"Uh, thanks," Danny answered, a bit awkwardly. "So how do you like it in Paris?"

"It's amazing! I've always dreamed of coming here as a child. I never realized everything was so…beautiful here. And big too, I mean the Eiffel Tower is so much bigger than it looks like in those post cards you sent me when you first moved here, and Notre Dame is spectacular too, with the gargoyles and all."

Danny nodded. "Anyway, have you heard anything?"

"Heard anything about…what?"

"You know Max, is he still trying to come after me?"

"Well, duh. You know he is. But you've got to stop hiding like this dude. Sooner or later the time will come when you have to face Max. Don't worry, if you master your magic, then you will totally be able to kick his butt!"

Danny didn't answer.

"What's wrong?"

Still no answer.

"Danny, Max is here in Paris."

"WHAT! Crap! That means I have to move to India now!"

Alyson burst out laughing. "See man, you're paranoid. You need to lighten up."

"Easy for you to say, you aren't the one being stalked by a wizard maniac!"

"So," Alyson said, this time more seriously, "what do you have new to show me?"

"Well, there is this cool new trick I learned from this sweet book that let's me turn into an animal."

"Ok," Alyson said, "let's see it."

Danny nodded and began to concentrate really hard on something. Then, he took a deep breath and whispered some magic spell to himself. Suddenly, in a puff of smoke he transformed from his human form to that of a pigeon.

"Great," said Alyson laughing again, "but how is turning into a dumb bird going to help you defeat Max?"

"It isn't," Danny the pigeon squawked. "This was a mistake. I meant to turn into an owl." The pigeon turned back into Danny, who was scratching his head in a confused manor. "What did I do wrong, I've done that trick almost twenty times by now."

"Well, it obviously isn't going to get you anywhere," Alyson said. "Why do you want to turn into animals anyway?"

"Well, for one thing, it's pretty fun. And for another thing, if I turned into a tiger or a bear or something, I could kill Max."

"Well, I wouldn't bet on something like that," suggested Alyson. "If you want my opinion, and I know you do so don't deny it, I seriously think that you need to come up with some more tricks up your sleeve. Meanwhile, I brought my camcorder, and I want to get some cool shots of this city."

"Really," asked Danny. "I thought after our reality show with Max, you decided the show business wasn't for you anymore."

"Nah, I love what I do," Alyson said. "I'm trying to get this cool new job at a reality show in Miami."

Danny shrugged. _Whatever floats her boat I guess? Meanwhile, I need to find some way to defeat Max. It won't be long before he discovers me…_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"Danny," asked Alyson, yawning. It was 10:00 AM and Alyson had just gotten up. "Danny are you their?"

There was no answer, so Alyson walked into the kitchen, expecting to see him there gorging on cereal or something. But, he was no where to be found, even after she searched the entire apartment. That's when Alyson found a note on the refrigerator. It read:

_Alyson, I went to the library this morning but didn't want to wake you up. When you have awoken and gotten something to eat, meet me there. Go north for two blocks, take a right, and down the avenue with the big red trees. The library is across the street from there. _

Alyson had to admit that she would rather be sightseeing today instead of spending time in a library, but if she had to admit that she enjoyed a good puzzle, and had a feeling that there was bound to be a puzzle waiting to be solved there. After quickly gulping down a glass of orange juice and some raisin toast, Alison left the apartment, clutching the note in her hands, following the directions.

She walked past a beautiful green park, with a lake and fountain. Swans, ducks and geese were lazily floating in it, and there was a huge flock, sorry wrong word, SWARM, of pigeons.

"Ok, follow the avenue with the big red trees," Alyson said to herself, glancing at the notes sketched onto the piece of paper.

Well, there was an avenue with big trees, but all the leaves had fallen off.

_This must be it,_ Alyson reasoned. Even though all the leaves were gone, it _was_ late November, the time when the leaves fall in Paris. _Danny must have meant that the trees had red leaves before they fell. _

Alyson continued down the avenue, until she came to a bridge over the Seine river. Across the river, Alyson could see a large building with a large sign in French. In English, it translated to Paris Central Library.

_This must be it_, Alyson thought, excited that she could figure out maps and directions even in foreign countries.

Sure enough, she found Danny inside, in the Fantasy Literature section, his nose buried in a mountain of books. He was so absorbed in whatever he was reading that he didn't notice Alyson until she walked right over to him and tapped on the shoulder.

When this happened, Danny nearly jumped 10 feet all over again.

"Man, you SCARED me!" he said, panting a little. "Sorry, I just keep thinking that everyone and everything is Max lately."

"Well, it's just me, so no need to have a heart attack," said Alyson laughing a little. "So, what are you doing here that you think will help you to defeat Max?"

"Well, I've done a lot of research, and Paris has had a long history of wizards and witches. I've been searching through biographies to see if I can learn anything from any of them."

"Any luck?"

"Well, there was this interesting gypsy named Angela VanNest," Danny replied. "Apparently, she created a whole bunch of magic potions. They can do anything from make you become invisible, change your identity (meaning you would turn into the body of a different person), let you fly, or even walk through walls. All of these spells are supposedly in a giant spell book called _Angela's Guide to Witchcraft_. Unfortunately, I can't find the book and I've searched this entire section of the library.

"Well, it is a BIG library," Alyson reminded him. "I mean look, this library probably has MILLIONS of books. If _Angela's Guide to Witchcraft _still exists, I'm sure it is in here."

"Well, good look finding it," Danny said tiredly, "I've been searching almost all morning."

"Ok, well first let me see the book that mentions this Angela VanNest person," Alyson suggested.

"Ok," said Danny, "but could you please tell what you are going to do?"

This was typical. Danny was the magician, and Alyson was the puzzle solver. Alyson could never completely understand why Danny had so many problems with his magic, and Danny could never figure out what Alyson was trying to solve. This was basically the only misunderstanding between the two of them, but it had started arguments in the past.

Not wanting to start a dumb argument, Alyson told him. "Look at this picture of Angela," she told him. "See how she's wearing that weird necklace with the shapes on them?"

"Yah, so," was Danny's reply.

"Well, I'll bet you this is just like that time at the library in the Magic Mansion, when the snakes on the binding pointed to Max's secret sanctum. But instead, I bet the symbols in Angela's necklace tell the location of her book in this library."

"Alyson, you might be right!" Danny said. "It's good to know that my best friend is a total puzzle queen!"

"Oh, come on, anyone could figure it out," Alyson said, being modest.

"Ok, Alyson, so what do these symbols mean?" Danny asked.

"Well," Alyson said, studying them carefully, "they look like numbers in Greek."

"You speak GREEK?" Danny asked, astounded.

"Well, I picked up a little when I spent last summer in Athens for the study abroad program," Alyson admitted, "but I'm not really fluent."

"Ok, well what numbers are they?" Danny asked. "I'll write them down."

"Ok, great. Let's see, the first one is a … um… I think that is an eighty-two. And the next one is defiantly a four."

"Eighty-two, four, ok, got it," Danny said.

"Wait, I'm not done," Alyson reminded him. "Ok, just two more numbers. It looks like a twenty-one and a … um … two? Yah, two!"

"Sweet, so now we have the numbers, what now?" asked Danny.

"Now, we find where this is in the library," Alyson told him.

"Let's find a librarian or something. They should know where eighty-two, four, twenty-one, two is," Danny suggested.

"Ok, good idea," Alyson agreed.

There was a librarian, who was in about in her mid-twenties sitting behind a desk near their section of the library. She had long brown hair and didn't seem to be busy, so Danny and Alyson went up to her.

"Excuse me, um … Destimona?" Alyson said reading the name plate on the librarian's jacket.

The librarian looked up from the copy of Guardians of Ga'hoole that she was reading.

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked.

"We were wondering where we could find this section of the library," Alyson explained. "Do you happen to know where eighty-two, four, twenty-one, two is?"

"As a matter of fact I do," Destimona the librarian answered. "But that is the restricted section of the library. I'm sorry, you can't go there."

"Um, we kind of need to, REALLY badly," Danny complained. "Are you sure you can't just make an exception just this once."

Destimona stared long and hard at both Alyson and Danny.

"I don't think you look like bad kids, so I'll make an exception just the once," she said. "Follow me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"You'd better realize how lucky you two are," Destimona said as she led Danny an Alyson up a long flight of stairs to the "restricted" section of the library. "Besides myself and the other librarians here, few people have been allowed up here."

While the librarian was giving her monologue, Alyson noticed that she didn't have the least bit of a French accent. In fact, whenever she tried to speak any of the French words written randomly on the walls here and there, she totally slaughtered the pronunciation.

"Just a question," Alyson said, "but where are you from? I mean you obviously aren't from France, and you sort of have a Southern accent."

Destimona didn't answer.

_That's strange,_ Alyson thought_, all I asked was where she was from. She acted like I asked something extremely private and personal. _

Finally, Destimona led the two kids to a room that said Room # 82-4.

"That's it," said Alyson excitedly. "Those are the numbers! Well, half of them anyway, but hey it's a start! See, Danny, I knew we would be able to find your magic book."

"What magic book," Destimona asked, curiously.

"Oh, just something me and Danny have been looking for," Alyson said.

Destimona looked as if she wanted to know more, but she didn't ask any further questions, and Alyson and Danny didn't give her any answers. Destimona opened the door, and it creaked slowly when she pushed it.

"Wow, this section of the library is kind of spooky!" Alyson commented.

Destimona gave a little sniff when Alyson said this, and quietly followed them into the dark room.

"There's no light here," Alyson observed. "What are we going to use for light?"

"These," Destimona replied, pulling out some candles from a nearby shelf and lighting them. She gave one to Danny, one to Alyson and kept one for herself.

"Reminds me of our days in the Magic Mansion," said Danny to Alyson as they began to search the book shelfs, which by the way were old and covered with dust and cobwebs.

"I know," Alyson agreed. "I can still remember that day when me, you, and Cedric discovered Max's secret room and vault. Remember how scared Cedric was?"

Danny nodded, smiling.

"Hey I think this is what we're looking for," Alyson said. "Look, shelf #21. Now we just need to find book #2. Aha! Here it is! Danny we've found it!"

Alyson pulled out a book that seemed like it was a thousand years old. The cover was worn and covered with dust, yet the faint words _Angela's Guide to Witchcraft_ were still visible. Alyson blew the dust off and open to the first page. The pages were far beyond yellowed. They were such a dark golden brown color that it was hard to read the words on the pages. But it_ was_ the book they were looking for, and that was all that mattered at the moment.

"Alyson you are a genius!" Danny congratulated her. "And now, back to the apartment to study up on this stuff."

"Right!"

"You'll have to check the book out first, don't forget," Destimona reminded them.

Danny and Alyson were so excited about their discovery, that they had forgotten that the young librarian was still there.

"Right, sorry we forgot," Alyson said laughing a little.

"This looks like an interesting book," Destimona commented as she stamped the due date in the book's date sheet. She was staring at it like it was some magical diamond or something.

"Uh, dudette, are you OK?" Danny asked, breaking her out of her strange trance.

"Oh, what? Oh, yah … I'm … fine."

"Ok, just making sure, you seemed kind out of it," Danny replied. "Anyway, thanks for taking us to that part of the library. We really appreciate it."

"Don't mention it," Destimona replied sheepishly.

"Ok, Danny, let's go," Alyson said. "Thanks again Destimona."

Danny and Alyson left the weird librarian sitting there, as they walked back to Danny's apartment.

"It's a good thing that she gave us the book," Alyson said as they walked past the park with lake and multitude of pigeons, "but didn't she seem sort of weird to you?"

"Yah, but I wouldn't worry about it," Danny said.

"Coming from Mr. Oh my gosh Max is here I have to move to India," Alyson joked. "It's good to know you aren't freaking out as much as you were yesterday when I arrived."

"Yah," Danny said in a nervous voice, "but I'm still worried. Max is still out there. We have to be careful."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

Weeks passed since the discovery at the library and all that Danny had done during that entire time was study like there was no tomorrow.

"Seriously Danny, don't you think you should take a break from all that and come do something?" Alyson asked. "I'm worried about you. You need to get a life."

"Alyson, this is extremely important. When Max comes, I HAVE to be ready for him. I got him once, but that doesn't mean I can do it again. I have to master my magic in order to do that."

Alyson shrugged. "Well, I'm going to the Louvre today. That's where the original Mona Lisa is you know. Are you sure you don't want to come, you know for just a short break or something?"

"I'm sure," Danny replied, not even looking up at Alyson.

"Well, fine, I'll be back tonight."

With that, Alyson left.

"Thank goodness I can have some peace and quiet now," Danny muttered to himself. "Now where was I?"

Danny had been reading up the entire day on invisibility spells and also teleportation spells. So far, he had been practicing the invisibility spell. The words to it were simple: universe hide me now…remove the sight of me from human eye…keep me safe from the eye of death. However, it wasn't reciting the spell that was so hard. It was concentrating hard enough to actually make it work that was hard. Even Danny found this to be difficult.

_Ok, this time it will work_, Danny thought as he recited the spell once more.

Unfortunately, all Danny succeeded in doing was becoming transparent, like a ghost, but not completely invisible.

"This is ridiculous!" Danny yelled out in frustration, hurling the book of spells at the wall. "This is the FIFTH time I've tried ALL day! How hard can it be?"

Meanwhile, Alyson was exploring the halls and corridors of the Louvre museum. She had just seen the Mona Lisa and most of the other famous art pieces, so now she was exploring the rest of the museum. She was about to leave, when a familiar voice caught her attention.

_Who could that be?_ she wondered. She followed the sound into a large gallery full of paintings from the late eighteenth century. The man she had heard speaking was wearing a trench coat, fedora, and sunglasses, as if he didn't want to betray his identity.

"I knew that man very well," he was saying to one of the tour guides for the museum. "In fact, you could even say that he was like a mentor to me."

_Why does he sound so familiar?_ Alyson wondered.

Suddenly, the man noticed Alyson looking at him. He gave her a long stair.

_Who is he?_ Alyson kept asking herself. She knew she knew. _And why is giving me such a strange look? _

Then, without warning, the man turned and fled.

"Uh … monsieur?" the tour guide asked bewildered. "Where are you going?"

Alyson rushed over into the gallery and glanced at the portrait the familiar man had been staring at. It was a portrait of deMilo! Suddenly, it hit Alyson like a rocket! It was Max! Max was the man in the trench coat! He had been staring at the portrait and talking about the person in it as if he knew him because Antonio deMilo had been his mentor who he had killed!

"I can't believe it!" Alyson cried. "I knew I knew who that was! How could I have been so stupid?! It's Max! He's actually in Paris! He must know that Danny is hiding here and now that he saw me here, he's probably positive about it!"

The tour guide was looking at her bug eyed. "Como ca va?" he asked. _(are you ok?) _

_Yes I'm fine,_ Alyson wanted to shriek at him. _But no time for that. I've GOT to find Danny and warn him that he's not safe anymore! _

It was late afternoon by the time Alyson made it back to the apartment. As fast as she ran, it seemed that there was always something to slow her down. It was rush hour and the trains, taxis and subways of Paris had all been busy.

"DANNY," she practically exploded as she flung open the door to the apartment and burst inside. "Danny, I've got bad news!"

"What's up," came Danny's voice from somewhere.

"Danny, this is no time for games, I've got important news to tell you!"

"I'm right here," the Danny's voice said again.

Strangely, it seemed as if he was standing right next to her, but Alyson couldn't see him anywhere.

"It's the invisibility spell," Danny explained. "After practicing almost the entire afternoon, I've finally gotten it to work. Cool, right?"

"Yah, cool," Alyson said, barely paying attention. "Listen Danny, you're not going to like this. Today, when I was at the Louvre, I saw Max."

"Nice one Alyson, but I'm not as gullible as you think. You already pulled that one on me, and I'm not falling for it again."

"No Danny, this is serious this time. Look, I know what I saw. Max is here, in Paris. You've got to believe me."

"WHAT?!" Danny cried. Alyson's words finally seemed to register. "Well, what are we going to do? I'm still not prepared to face Max. I'm still weak Alyson, don't you get it? I can't fight him! We have to move somewhere else. Um … where do you think? Spain? … India? … Russia? Come on what should we do. You're the puzzle solver. What do you think?"

"No, Danny, no more running away. Whether you're ready or not, it's time for you to face Max. Maybe a few more days, yah, but I have faith that you can do it. Trust me on this."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

_My cover is blown! _Max cursed. He'd been tracking Danny all the way across the globe, from New Orleans, to San Francisco, and now to Paris. What were the odds that in this enormous city, he would run into Alyson and spoil everything? _Now she will probably go alert Danny, and the two of them will be in New Zealand by the time I get a chance to do anything. _

Max was lounging in a café near the Louvre, trying to come up with something. He hadn't come all the way to Europe for nothing. There had to be a way to destroy Danny for good. Suddenly, a poet reading her latest work on the café's stage caught Max's attention.

_Poetry? ... OF COURSE!_ Max thought. _The library! Somehow I will be able to find out something there. _

Moments later, the evil sorcerer was walking in the doors of the Paris Central Library, where Danny and Alyson had discovered the spell book, only two weeks ago.

"Father," a familiar voice asked when Max stepped in. It was Destimona, one of librarians.

"Oh, Destimona, my daughter!" Max said smiling, forgetting his mission for a few brief moments. "It's good to see you, my lovely."

"Good to see you to, father," Destimona agreed. "What brings you to Paris?"

"I'm looking for Danny Sinclair," Max replied. "And I'm pretty sure that his little girlfriend Alyson is with him."

"Danny Sinclair?" Destimona asked a bit puzzled. "You mean the kid from your reality show a few years back?"

"Yes, that's the one," Max replied, with resentment in his voice. "I've been trying to find him ever since the final performance."

"Wait a minute," Destimona said. "I do remember a familiar somebody coming into the library about two weeks ago. I recognized him from your reality show. He was fairly tall, brown hair, kind of moody, with a blond chick. They wanted to go to the restricted section of the library, and checked out a book on spells by some gypsy chick."

"Are you sure?!" Max asked, intently. "I think that could be Danny!"

"I bet it was," Destimona replied, "And the blond chick, kept talking about how much she enjoyed puzzles."

"That would be Alyson!" Max agreed. "That's got to be them. Do you have any additional information about them, you know, there whereabouts and stuff like that?"

"Afraid not," Destimona replied. "But don't despair, they haven't returned the book yet. The due date is later this afternoon in fact, at four o'clock."

"Good idea!" Max said smiling. "When they come, we'll be waiting. And then, I will do what I should have done when I first met Danny: DESTROY him."

Destimona cackled wickedly. "I like this evil side of you, daddy."

"It's always been there," Max replied. "I just never knew you had an evil side too."

Meanwhile, back at Danny's apartment, Danny and Alyson were cramming the remaining information from the spell book as quickly as possible.

"It's been two weeks, and I can only accomplish three spells from this stupid book!" Danny grumbled in frustration. "How am I going to face Max when I can only turn invisible, turn into an animal, and levitate stuff? I'm not even that good at any of these spells as it is."

"That's not you're only problem," Alyson reminded him. "The book is due TODAY!"

"Could things get any worse?" Danny cried in frustration. "I wish there was some way for me to learn all of these spells right this instant, and be good at them too."

"We've got an hour left, so don't panic, yet," Alyson said, trying to remain calm and rational. "It's three o'clock."

But unfortunately, the hour passed, and all the progress that Danny had made was turning himself into a turkey.

"Wow, poultry is so scary!" Alyson said sarcastically. "Seriously Danny, I know you can do better than this. You're probably just letting your nerves get the best of you."

"Easy for you to say," Danny retorted, "I have a freaking psychopath just waiting to kill me and eat my flesh."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Max isn't a cannibal, but I get what you're saying," Alyson said, apologizing for her outburst. "Just remember, you still have me for support."

"Thanks Alyson," Danny said, forcing a smile. "I'm just so stressed."

"Ok, well, we'll go right now and drop the book off at the library, then come back and practice the spells you _do_ know. Who knows? They might be exactly what you need to defeat Max for good."

Danny agreed, and the two of them left the apartment, toward the library, clutching the book tightly. Little did they know what lay ahead for them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"Strange," Danny muttered as he and Alyson approached the library. "There are almost no cars or bikes parked in the parking lot. That's weird."

"For sure," Alyson agreed, scanning the area for people. There was no one to be found. "Maybe it's a holiday?"

"What holiday?" Danny asked. "Christmas is over, Bastille Day isn't for several months in France, Halloween isn't celebrated here, and it's not Easter either."

"Well, the library doesn't close until six o'clock, and you HAVE to turn in the book, so let's just go," Alyson said.

However, when they got inside the library, they found that it was completely empty, and most of the lights were turned off. There were only a few lit candles here and there, to illuminate the building. Strangely, there didn't appear to be any librarians on duty either.

"Something doesn't seem right here," Danny muttered. "Let's just fine the drop off box, and get out of here. I'm getting creeped out!"

"Totally," Alyson agreed.

Quickly, he and Alyson shoved the book into the slot in the large box next to the head librarian's desk and made way for the door. But when they tried to open it, it wouldn't budge!

"What's wrong with this stupid thing?!" panicked Danny cried. "I'm telling you Alyson, something is SERIOUSLY wrong here!"

"You're right, something isn't right," said a voice that was somewhat familiar.

Danny and Alyson and whirled around to see Destimona, the librarian step out of the shadows. She had a strange, smug smile on her face, as though she knew something that Danny and Alyson didn't.

"I always knew you were a creeper," Alyson shouted. "Let us OUT of this library. We returned the stupid book, so just let us go in peace, OK?"

"I'm afraid she can't do that," said another voice, this one deep and raspy, like an old man…

"Max!" Danny and Alyson both cried simultaneously.

"I'm glad you remember me," Max said stepping out of the shadows and standing next to Destimona. He too had a wicked grin on his face. "I've been waiting for this moment ever since the final performance. Only this time, there's no way out."

Max laughed as he said this.

"You'll never take Danny's powers!" Alyson shouted angrily at Max. "You have no right to them! They belong to Danny and Danny alone!"

"Just because I'm not _entitled_ to them doesn't mean that I can't _get_ them," Max replied. "And believe me, before this is over, they WILL be mine."

"Not if you can't catch us Max!" Danny shouted. "Come on Alyson, we're out of here!"

Danny grabbed Alyson by the wrist, and dragged her along with him. The two of them sprinted up the nearest staircase.

Max just chuckled.

"You think you can escape me? Well, think again. Running won't save you. Not this time."

"Danny, why are we doing this?" Alyson asked as they ran down a long hallway. "You heard what Max said, running won't save us. You need to stand up to him. This is what your two years of hiding was all about: getting stronger and more powerful, so you would finally be able to defeat Max. This is it!"

"I know, I know," Danny replied. "This is just to buy time. I need to figure out what I'm going to do first."

"Ok, then let's hide in that room over there," Alyson suggested. She was pointing to a door behind some bookshelves. "Max will never think to check there."

"Oh, yes he will," Danny replied, "it might take a little while, but he'll find us eventually, trust me. Have you learned nothing about Max through all of this? If he could track us all the way to Paris, France, I'm pretty sure he could find us in a public library, even one as gigantic as this."

"It's to buy time," Alyson answered, quoting Danny's earlier excuse for running away.

"Fine."

The two of them crowded inside the room, which was actually a closet.

"Ok, first things first," Alyson whispered. "Let's think of all the tricks and spells you can use against Max."

"Like I said," Danny immediately answered, "I haven't had enough time for this. All I can do is change into animals, levitate stuff, and turn invisible."

"You can do more than that," Alyson said, joking a little. "You can create snow inside fish tanks, like you did in the reality show. What else, you can make fake elephants disappear and then reappear on mechanical bulls."

"Ok, Alyson, enough joking around," Danny shot back. "This is serious. Those lame tricks from the past aren't going to help either of us get out of this."

"Ok," Alyson said. "Well, what can you do with these three spells? Let's see, how is changing into animals going to help us? Wait a minute … I have think I have an idea! Danny, can you only change _yourself_ into animals? Because what I you could change _Max_ into something? You know, transform him and Destimona into little butterflies?"

"I like your thinking," Danny said, rubbing his chin as he pondered the idea.

Suddenly, Danny and Alyson heard footsteps coming from outside of the closet. They sounded close. They could here the voices of Max and Destimona also.

"Well, well," said Max on the other side of the door. "Who do we have in here?"

He knocked on the closet door. "Anybody in here?" Then he flung it open, shouting, "Peek-a-boo!"

Danny and Alyson both screamed.

"Back off Max," Danny shouted, trying to sound fiercer than he felt. The truth was, it felt as though his insides had turned into chocolate pudding or jell-o or something.

"Or what?" Max said, laughing again. _What was with his creepy laugh? _

"Or I'll turn you and Destimona both into… uh… PIGEONS!"

Max and Destimona both burst out laughing.

"You want a bet?" Danny asked, trying to sound confident. "I'll do it, watch!"

Max stopped laughing and suddenly looked very grave and serious. "I'm watching," he said, his voice cold, like stone.

Max, Destimona, and Alyson watched as Danny closed his eyes and concentrated very hard on something. He muttered a spell to himself, and then POOF! Destimona was transformed just like that into a bird!

Danny opened his eyes, and when he saw what he had done, a smile crept over his face. "I… I did it! Alyson look, I did it! For once, my magic actually did what I wanted it to! This is great!"

Destimona just sat there squawking. "Father do something!" she shrieked.

Max was flabbergasted. He just stared at the pigeon waddling around on the ground. He simply couldn't believe two things. First, that his daughter was now a bird, and two that Danny was the reason for this. He turned his gaze to the young wizard.

"DANNY!" he roared. "Change my daughter back NOW!"

"I refuse to do that sir," Danny replied, this time his voice calm and cool. After the feet he had just achieved, all fear of Max was gone. He now saw Max as his equal, someone he could stand up against. "I'll only do that if you swear to leave me and Alyson in peace from now on."

Max was outraged. "I REFUSE TO THAT TOO! Listen to _ME_ Danny, if you don't change my daughter back right now, I'll… I'll… I'LL DESTROY YOU FOR GOOD!"

"You were already going to do that anyway," Danny replied. "And if you really do that, then how do you expect for Destimona to ever be a human again, huh? Remember, the only wizard who can undo a spell, is the one who cast it. In this case to me. Whether you like it or not, I have power over you now."

Max didn't reply. Instead, he stared at Danny for a few moments, giving him the meanest glare imaginable. Then, without warning, he darted forward, and grabbed Alyson by the arm, pulling her toward him. He grabbed a knife and held it to her throat.

"Listen to ME, Danny," Max said, calm again, and with disgusting smile on his face, "if you don't turn back my daughter, AND, give me your powers, I promise you that you're little girlfriend Alyson will DIE!"

Danny was completely taken aback. "What… you can't…"

"Danny, help me!" Alyson was shrieking. "You can do this! Defeat Max! Please Danny, believe in yourself, this is the only way that we'll get out of this!"

"Shut up," Max ordered Alyson, holding her tighter, and holding the knife dangerously close to her throat. He looked again at Danny, as if waiting for an answer. "Tell you what," he said slyly, "I'll give you a little time to think about this. When you've decided what you want to do, you'll know exactly where to find me. And remember, if you don't agree to terms, Alyson will be even deader than King Tut."

With that, Max, along with Alyson disappeared in a puff a smoke, leaving Danny alone in the library chamber, with the dumb talking pigeon Destimona.

_I can't believe it_, Danny thought. _What the heck am I supposed to do now? My best friend is on death row because of me, and I'm forced between her or my powers. _

Danny knew that he would never compromise Alyson for his magic, but there had to be a way to get her and his magic back, without any blood and death…

"Are you going to change me back or what?" Destimona asked.

"SHUT UP!" Danny roared at the bird, kicking it across the room. With that, he left the library to buy a birdcage to stuff her in, and to outwit Max.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

High above Paris, Alyson lay captive to the evil sorcerer Max. He had locked her in a metal wire cage, at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"So this is your brilliant plan, Max?" Alyson asked. "Lock me up at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Don't you think that's a little obvious? You know Danny is going to check here, don't you?"

Max smiled. And it wasn't a kind smile either. It was Max's signature creeper smile. The one he gave whenever he knew he was about to succeed in doing something terrible.

"Don't worry Alyson. I've got everything under control," he cackled wickedly. "I already know Danny will suspect this place, I'm not worried about that. The question is, how is he going to get all the way up here? You see, I've frozen the elevators, so they're out of commission, and I've also blocked the staircases. There will be no possible way for him to get up here."

"What about all of the tourists that want to come and see the Eiffel Tower?" Alyson questioned. "What are you going to do about that?"

"I've gotten that taken care of that too," Max replied, still smiling. "I've posted a fake sign saying that the tower is closed until further notice. Face it Alyson, there is no possible way that Danny is going to save you, _and_ keep his powers. You see, in the end, I always win. I won against Antonio deMilo, and I'm about win against Danny Sinclair."

"You are such a bizarre creeper," Alyson muttered in disgust. _Please Danny, find a way to make everything ok again, _she thought. She sat back down and leaned against the cage. It wasn't until then, when she felt something in her back pocket, that she remembered that she had something very important with her. Her CELL phone! _I have a feeling my texting skills are about to become very useful, _Alyson thought.

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, Danny was desperately trying to come up with a plan to save Alyson _and_ keep his powers at the same time.

"I can't believe I've been blackmailed by Max," Danny shouted angrily as he paced around the kitchen.

"Well, believe it," said Destimona, from her birdcage.

"SHUT UP!" Danny roared at her. "Stupid bird! This is all _YOUR_ fault. You led Max right to Alyson and I!

"Hey, Max is my dad," Destimona said in self-defense. "What was I supposed to do?"

"In case you haven't noticed," Danny countered, "your dad is a total FREAK! He's a MANIAC! Don't you get it? He tried to kill me once, and now he's threatening to kill Alyson unless I hand over you and my powers."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"What the heck?" Danny muttered in frustration. "Who's there?"

"It's me," said the voice behind the door.

"Me _who_?"

There was no answer, so Danny walked over to the door and peeked into the peephole. It was a red head kid, with huge glasses and freckles. He seemed strangely familiar. Cedric?

"Cedric, is that you," Danny asked, flinging the door open in surprise.

"The one and only," he replied, smiling.

Cedric had been Danny and Alyson's camera operator back in New Orleans during the reality show: _Search for the World's Greatest Kid Magician. _He hadn't changed a bit.

"Um, glad to see you," Danny said, surprised to see the kid. "How did you get here? I mean, how did you find me? The only person who knew I was here was Alyson and now Max of course."

"I was on vacation in Spain," Cedric replied. "We have villa on the beach, just outside of Barcelona, and we go there every year. So, earlier today I received a text message from Alyson. She said that she was being held hostage on top of the Eiffel Tower, and that Max was blackmailing you. So, I boarded the fastest train from Barcelona to Paris, and now here I am, ready to help."

"Trains these days go that fast?" Danny asked.

"You'd be surprised man." Cedric replied.

"So how are you going to help," Danny asked, glancing out the apartment window, which had a view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance. _I can't believe that's_ _where Alyson is right now,_ he thought.

"Turns out I'm going to be a big help," Cedric replied.

"How's that?"

"Because I know something about Max that you don't know."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"Ok Cedric," Danny said anxiously, "what do you know about Max?"

Danny and Cedric were seated at the kitchen table in Danny's apartment. Danny had locked Destimona and her birdcage in the closet so she couldn't hear the conversation.

"Well, to start off," Cedric replied, "you remember how Max killed Antonio deMilo to get his powers right?"

"Um, yah," Danny replied confused. "But how did you know that? I thought it was only me and Alyson who knew about that."

"Alyson has filled me in on quite a lot," Cedric replied. "But back to the point. Apparently every few generations a few truly powerful sorcerers are born. You're one of them, and so is Max, and so was deMilo."

"Yah, I already know that," Danny replied. "Tell me what I _don't_ know."

"Well, what you don't know," said Cedric, "is that there is only so much power that a sorcerer can possess. Think of it like a water bottle: there is only so much water it can hold. Well, when Max killed Antonio deMilo, he didn't realize that he couldn't contain all that power. So, he got an amulet called a Wizard's Bank. It's not technically a bank, but has the same idea. Basically, he used the amulet to hold all of deMilo's powers for future reference. Once he well, kills _you_, he will get another amulet to hold _your_ powers in."

"So your saying that the amulet has all of deMilo's powers?" Danny asked. "What would have happened if Max had tried to keep all of those powers at once, since you said he couldn't?"

"He would have exploded," Cedric replied casually.

"Well, how is this information going to help us save Alyson and let me keep my powers?"

"Well, when Max killed deMilo and put his powers into the amulet, he also sealed a life sentence. What I mean is, if that amulet is ever destroyed, Max will explode and be gone. Simple as that."

"Wow, so you're saying that we take the amulet, crush it and destroy Max for good?" Danny asked, impressed with Cedric's hidden knowledge.

"Exactly."

"Where is the amulet?" Danny asked.

"That's the bad part," Cedric replied.

"What do you mean?"

"The amulet is back in the magic mansion in New Orleans," Cedric answered.

"Are you serious?" Danny said, with bitter disappointment in his voice. "We don't have time to go to the airport, fly all the way to New Orleans, and then back. It's on a completely different continent."

"Don't you know some teleportation spell or something?" asked Cedric. "Because if you do, you could teleport yourself to the magic mansion, get the amulet, and come back, all in about five minutes."

"I've only learned three new spells since I've come here," Danny answered. "And teleportation isn't one of them. All I can do is turn myself and others into animals, levitate stuff, and turn invisible."

"Well, Alyson mentioned a spell book in her text," said Cedric. "One that you got at the library. Why don't we check it out to see what it says about teleportation?"

"That's the problem," replied Danny. "It's back at the library. Alyson and I returned it and that's where we met Max."

"Well why don't we go there now?" asked Cedric. "Right now, it's the only way I can see to help us get out of this mess."

Danny sighed. He knew that Cedric was right.

"Ok," he mumbled after a little bit. "Let's go."

So Danny and Cedric left the apartment (with Destimona still locked in the closet of course) and set off for the library. When they got there, Danny found that it was still in the drop off box where he and Alyson had left if before Max had attacked. It hadn't even been put back on the shelves yet.

"Ok, we've gotta find it fast," Danny said anxiously.

Cedric nodded, and they began quickly flipping the pages of the ancient book searching for anything about teleportation.

"This is it!" Danny cried after searching almost the entire volume. "Teleportation, this is it!"

"Nice, we've found it," Cedric exclaimed excitedly. "Up top!"

Danny exchanged a high five with Cedric, before glancing back to the page.

"Ok, it says here that to teleport, you have to say the name of the place, and chant the following spell: North, South, East, West, Near, Far, Up, Down, Lift Me Up and Take Me Now… It also says to be extremely specific as to where the location is. The spell wares off after one hour, so we'll have to be quick."

"Ok, so our location is the Magic Mansion, in New Orleans, in Louisiana, in the United States, in North America, in the Western Hemisphere…" Cedric began.

"Uh, Cedric, I think they get it," Danny interrupted, chuckling a little. "Now, since you're not a wizard, you won't be able to come with me, so I want you to return back to the apartment, and make sure everything over there is OK. All right? You said that Alyson texted you, so make sure that you can keep in contact with her."

"Don't worry, Danny," Cedric replied confidently (which was weird because back in the days of the reality show at the mansion, he had been scared of everything), " you can trust me to make sure everything goes smoothly. "Max won't even see it coming."

"Speaking of which, where in the magic mansion is the amulet kept?" Danny asked.

"No clue," Cedric admitted. "And you only have an hour to find it, so make sure you search quickly."

"Right," Danny replied. "Ok, here goes. Teleport: I want to go to the Magic Mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana." Danny began to recite the magic words to the phrase.

Suddenly, the library grew dark, and a strong breeze, no _wind_ began to rush around Danny. It went around him faster, and faster, and faster, until Danny slowly began to disappear. Eventually, he was completely gone and the wind stopped.

Danny had returned to the Magic Mansion.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Danny opened his eyes. He was no longer in the library in Paris. That meant that he had done the spell correctly! Excitement pulsed through Danny's veins at the thought that he was actually starting to get good at his magic.

Looking around, he realized he was in a large park in New Orleans. The air was hot and humid, and there were banana trees and tall sycamores. After living in Paris for so long, Danny had forgotten how much he had loved New Orleans, despite that it was no longer safe for him here.

_Ok, I've got to find the Magic Mansion fast,_ Danny thought. _I've only got one hour. _

The sound of a trolley nearby told him that the mansion was nearby. After all, he remembered from the reality show, that the New Orleans trolley system had run right by the Magic Mansion's front lawn.

Quickly, Danny raced down the street, and hopped across the trolley tracks. There it was! It was just as big and mysterious as Danny remembered it from when he had first arrived with Alyson. Back of then of course, they had had no idea of how evil Max really was.

He ran strait up the front steps to the mansion and knocked on the door. There was a large hideous gargoyle on the handle. No one answered, so Danny knocked again, and when he still received no response, he turned the doorknob and was amazed to find out that it was open. Quietly, so as not to be noticed by anyone inside, Danny slipped inside and quietly shut the door.

Meanwhile, back in Paris, Cedric had returned to the apartment. He was about to check his cell phone to see if he had received any new information about Alyson, when he heard a loud squawking coming from Danny's closet.

_What could that be?_ he wondered.

Inside the closet, Danny found a large wire birdcage with a pigeon inside.

_Why would Danny have a pigeon in his closet?_ Cedric wondered. _It's probably a mistake or something. _

"Here you go little guy," he said, as he opened the cage door and let the pigeon fly out the open window. "I have no idea why Danny had you in there, but now you're free to go to the park with all the other pigeons."

Cedric had always loved animals, and hated to see them in captivity. What he didn't know was that he had just released Destimona, Max's daughter into the city.

_What a stupid kid,_ Destimona thought as she flapped her wings as fast as she could away from the apartment, laughing that she had outsmarted Danny.

Destimona had heard _everything_ through the closet walls. She now knew that Alyson and Max were at the top of the Eiffel Tower, about the amulet, and that Danny had gone to the library to learn how to teleport himself back to the Magic Mansion. _Max will so pleased with me when I tell him this, _she thought to herself.

The Eiffel Tower was right across the river from where Danny's apartment was, so Destimona didn't have to fly far. _Man, this thing is tall,_ she thought as she flapped her way all the way to the top. There, she found Max enjoying the view, and Alyson sitting unhappily in a large metal cage.

"Destimona, my daughter," Max said, when he noticed the pigeon flying over to him. "What do you have to tell me? Is Danny ready to hand over his powers?"

"Actually, father, he's back at the Magic Mansion. He found out about the amulet, and he's gone back to crush it and destroy you."

"WHAT?!" Max asked. His face immediately turned from being sly, confident, and sure that his plan would work, to panic. "If he finds the amulet, I DIE!"

"I _knew_ that Danny would win," Alyson said, from the cage. "You don't _always_ win, now do you Max?" She was clearly enjoying this.

"He's only got an hour to find the amulet," Destimona reminded her father. "Perhaps, he won't find it."

"_Perhaps_ isn't good enough," Max said. He was really starting to worry now. "There's only one thing to do. I must go back to the Magic Mansion and stop Danny. I'll put a stop to this once and for all!"

"But there's no possible way you'll be able to fly all the way to New Orleans in time," Alyson pointed out.

"Have you forgotten that I'm a sorcerer, Alyson?" Max asked her. His confidence was quickly coming back. "You don't really expect me to just let Danny get the amulet do you? I'm to clever for that! No, I'm going to teleport myself back to the Magic Mansion."

With that, Max began to recite the teleportation spell, the same one that Danny had found in the library.

_He must have memorized all the spells in the book,_ Alyson thought.

Once Max had finished reciting the spell, and listing the location of the Magic Mansion, a strong wind began to swirl around him. It spun faster and faster until Max was gone.

_Something terrible is about to happen, _Alyson thought. She wished that she could warn Danny about Max. But he never brought _his_ cell phone _with_ him.

Back at the Magic Mansion, Danny was franticly searching the maze of halls, corridors, and rooms for the amulet. He'd searched the library, the secret room, all the dorm rooms, and even the room where the miniature knights were held. And still, he hadn't found a single object that resembled the amulet that Cedric had mentioned. Worse still, only fifteen minutes remained until the spell wore off!

"Looking for something?" a sickeningly familiar voice said.

Danny whirled around, even though he already knew who it was… Sure enough, Max was standing in the hallway, smiling wickedly.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Are you looking for something?" Max repeated the question. "I thought you might be looking for… this?"

He pulled a gold chain from out of his pocket. Attached to it was a large red stone. _The amulet! _

Danny couldn't believe it. He just stared at Max and the amulet, dumbfounded. For one thing, he couldn't believe that Max had found he was at the Magic Mansion, and for another, he couldn't believe that the amulet was right in front of him, _in the hands of the villain. _

Max chuckled. "If you're wondering where I keep this, it was in my office, in the bell tower of the mansion. And if you're wondering how I knew you were here, the answer is that Destimona escaped and told me you and Cedric's entire plan. You thought you were going to get away didn't you? Well too bad, because you're NOT!"

Danny still couldn't believe it. Everything was going to work, up until now.

"Where…where is Alyson?" he finally asked.

"Back in Paris," Max replied. "Don't worry; I haven't hurt her – _yet_. She's in a cage at the top of the Eiffel Tower. So, I'm going to give you one more chance, Danny. Hand your powers over now and turn Destimona back, or you AND Alyson will both die."

"NEVER, Max!" Danny shouted defiantly.

"Give it up Danny," Max said chuckling. "You're not getting yourself out of this. I have the amulet, and you don't. And now if you don't hand over what is rightfully mine, I'll finish the job I almost succeeded in completing on the night of the final performance."

"Not on my watch Max," Danny replied.

"So be it."

With that, Max shot out his fist. A glowing beam of green light flashed out of it and picked Danny up, hurling him into the air.

But Danny countered him by using the animal spell to morph into a parrot. Now that Danny was naturally airborne, Max's levitating spell had no effect on him.

But Max wasn't finished yet. He morphed into an enormous golden eagle, and lunged towards the parrot, his talons outstretched to tear Danny's flesh.

_Got to think of something bigger than an eagle,_ Danny thought. And then it came to him.

Just seconds before Max in eagle form was about to tear off his face, Danny morphed into wolf, and plunged back to the floor, with a thud. The wind was knocked out of him for a few brief moments, but he got it back, just in time, because Max had changed into an enormous Grizzly bear, and was swiping his paw towards Danny.

_Time to get out of here,_ thought Danny. He quickly morphed into a cheetah and prepared to speed his way out of the room. That's when he noticed that Max had left the amulet on the floor when he had morphed into the Eagle.

_Bingo! _Danny thought excitedly.

He rushed over to the stone necklace laying on the floor, and grabbing it in his cheetah jaws, sprinted away.

"NO!!!!" he heard Max roar behind him. "Listen here Danny, if you so much as scratch that amulet, I'll… I'll"

"You'll what, Max?" Danny shouted behind him as he sped away with the amulet gripped tightly between his teeth. After a few moments, he had lost Max in a cloud of dust. (Ok, not technically, but if they had been outside, Danny would have caused a huge cloud of it).

"I've got to find something to break this thing!" Danny muttered to himself when he reached the mansion's kitchen. He morphed back into his human self and gripped the amulet tightly in his fist. "It won't be long before Max is here."

"DANNY!!!" came Max's voice from down the hall from the kitchen. "Danny, I'm gonna get you! You can't stop me now!"

"CRAP!" Danny cursed, rushing over to the kitchen door trying desperately to lock it. Unfortunately there was no lock to that particular door, so he rushed to get a mop and a chair to block it from being opened. He built a rough barricade that would last up to one minute at most, and set again to looking for something in the kitchen to break the amulet.

He selected an extremely large butcher knife from the knife board and began hacking away at the stone.

"Why won't it break?!" Danny cried, panicking. He tossed the butcher knife aside and grabbed a large metal rolling pin that he used to smash. Still, it wouldn't brake.

"DANNY LET ME IN!!!" Max was roaring from the other side of the kitchen door. He was pounding so hard that the some of the dishes in the kitchen were slipping off their shelves and crashing to the floor in smithereens. And the makeshift barricade was slowly becoming looser and looked like it was ready to bust.

"One last shot!" Danny shouted to himself as he selected a steel frying pan and starting beating the amulet with it. He hammered away at it.

Suddenly, the chair and mop gave way and Max burst into the kitchen, his face as red as a hot chili pepper!

"Danny, when I'm finished with you" – Max roared. But he never finished his sentence. Because at that moment, the amulet finally succumbed to the frying pan that Danny was beating it with, and it shattered into thousands of pieces."

Max gave one despairing look at the amulet and then let out a loud wail. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" he bellowed.

It was just like a scene in a movie, where the villain is finally defeated and begins to melt or something. But this was better, because it was real.

Max begin to grow hotter and hotter, and his face turned redder and redder, until he suddenly burst into flames and burnt to the floor, becoming nothing more but a pile of ash.

Danny just stood there staring. "I…I can't believe it," me whispered to himself. "I've really done it, I've… I've finally defeated Max. I can't believe this."

He glanced over at the amulet, which was slowly fading away.

It took a few minutes for the reality to actually register. When it did, Danny jumped into the air, shouting from excitement and happiness.

And suddenly, the clock in the kitchen, an old grandfather clock with an image of an owl carved into it, rung. The hour was up. But that was ok. Danny had accomplished what he needed to.

The wind began blowing around him faster and faster until he was no longer in the Magic Mansion. When he stopped spinning, he opened his eyes and realized that back in the library, in Paris. The place where he had last been before he teleported back to New Orleans.

There was still the feeling that there was something that had to be done. _Of course, I still have to rescue Alyson! _

Max and Cedric had both mentioned that she was locked in a cage at the top of the Eiffel Tower. So, Danny began sprinting out of the library to go find her.

* * *

There it was. The Eiffel Tower, soaring thousands of feet above him. He had seen it everyday while living in Paris, it was impossible to go anywhere in the city where you couldn't see it towering over all the other buildings, but now that he was standing directly under it, it had never seemed as tall as it did now. _And Alyson was at the very top._

He ran over to the nearest elevator. In big bold letters were the words: Out of Order on a sign on the door.

"Oh please," Danny muttered, "Max did this."

But when he pushed the button for the door to open, it did nothing.

_I guess I'll have to take the stairs,_ Danny thought.

He ran over to the nearest staircase, ignoring the sign that said the tower was closed. _This is all because of Max. _

It took forever to climb up. After climbing to the first level of the tower, Danny was already exhausted.

"Must keep going," he told himself.

Finally, twenty minutes later, Danny reached the top.

"Danny, you came back!" he heard Alyson's voice call.

He looked to see where the voice was coming from. Sure enough, there was Alyson, locked in a large wire cage.

"I suppose Max put you in there," Danny said, walking over and snapping the lock off.

"What happened?" Alyson immediately asked him. "Where's Max? Did you find the amulet?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Danny interrupted laughing. "One question at a time. Max is gone. Forever!!!"

It took a few moments for Alyson to digest the information. "So you finally defeated him?"

"Yep."

"Oh my gosh, Danny that's great!!!" Alyson screamed excitedly. "How did you do it?"

"I'll explain everything, I promise," Danny replied. "But first, let's go find Cedric, he helped a lot in this too."

"Yes, of course," Alyson answered. "Oh my gosh, I'm just so excited! All your work finally payed off. I can't believe we never have to worry about Max again!"

"I know, I know," Danny replied, without the least trait of anxiety in his voice. Ever since the night of the final performance, he had been jumpy, and nervous, worried that Max would come get him. For the first time in two years, his mind was finally at ease.

"You know," Danny said, before they walked toward the staircase. "We've got a great view up here. What do you say we go find Cedric later and just enjoy he sunset? It's such a beautiful city."

"You know something, I think you're right," Alyson replied.

The two of them stood gazing over the rail as the sun set over Paris. Below them, they could see the Seine River flowing lazily by, and in the distance, Notre Dame's bells were ringing for the night.

It was the perfect end, to a perfect day, to an unperfect two years. Max was gone. At last.

**THE END**


End file.
